WWE Monday Night RAW opens with “Y2J” Chris Jericho in the ring doing his whole “me want title shot” schtick. Jericho replays the video of WWE Champion Randy Orton accepting Jericho’s challenge for Armageddon. Orton comes out and it’s pretty much more of the same. The two get in each others faces - threat, threat, threat - and it almost comes to blows. Of course, Regal comes out and stops them. Orton and Jericho will pick each other’s opponents for the night. It would make sense for them to make Jericho face Flair. Now, that would be a good match. Instead, Jericho will face Umaga. Orton will face off against Shawn Michaels. Not bad main events!

After the jump, three WWE legends and an “Attitude Era” tag team make surprise “returns”!

Maria looks absolutely scrumptious for her match with the equally gorgeous Mickie James. Those two take on Melina and the WWE Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix. Surprisingly enough, Mickie James takes a clean loss at the hands of Phoenix. Doesn’t make much sense to me considering that Mickie is the number one contender and set to take on Phoenix at Armageddon. How about a little build up before we have a clean pin?

Next up we have a short promo from HBK. He is interrupted by Mr. Kennedy who claims that Michaels will have a blast from the past that may “break his heart.” Rather ominous. Anxious to see if that means anything or if he’ll just do something predictable like hit him with a chair.

Ooo - Kennedy is in the ring. I guess we’ll find out sooner rather than later. Just when I thought they might actually dig Marty Jannety out of the gutter he’s in somewhere, Kennedy brings out a phony Janetty. He is bringing out guys from HBK’s past. Next, Kennedy introduces the man who Michaels faced at Wrestlemania 10 - “The Bad Guy” Razor Ramon! Not the real one, of course. It’s ironic considering that Scott Hall did a legit no-show at last night’s TNA pay-per-view. Kennedy makes a very sly and subtle reference to it when he says, “thanks for coming.“ Brilliant! Next - it’s “Big Daddy Cool” Diesel! They should have just had Kane play him. Nice call back! Finally, Kennedy brings out a fake Shawn Michaels. He asks them a couple questions before the real Michaels comes out and superkicks everyone but his doppleganger and Kennedy, who gets away.

Next week on RAW - “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, Trish Stratus and Eric Bishoff! Plus, a McMahon family portrait - Shane, Steph, Linda, Vince … and Hornswoggle. This 15th anniversary show could turn out to be pretty good!

Triple H and Regal promo - meh. Triple H and Jeff Hardy will face off at Armageddon with the winner going to The Royal Rumble to fight for the WWE Championship.

Remember when Umaga was in line for WWE title shot after title shot? Well, now he’s going to do the job for Jericho. Movin’ on up! Umaga doesn’t do the job as a matter of fact. Seems like they decided to save face for both guys. Orton does the run-in just as Jericho hits his “The Code Breaker” finisher. Really? You named it The Code Breaker? Orton then hits Jericho with the RKO. Everybody wins except for the fans who would have rather seen Jericho win clean. I foresee the same ending in the Michaels/Orton match. Blah!

Why is Carlito still here? Haven’t they made this guy suffer enough? Just release him and let him go to AAA in Mexico. And even worse than losing one-on-one to a leprechaun is losing to a leprechaun while you are teamed up with Jonathon Coachman. A midget, a former backstage announcer … and Carlito. This one is a no DQ match. Horny made a phone call and has apparently hired some protection for this match. The APA? NUH UH! It actually is Farooq and Bradshaw, the APA - The Acolyte Protection Agency! Freakin’ awesome callback! It sucks that JBL got stuck fighting Coach because that dude can’t sell a move worth crap - made Bradshaw look dumb. The APA whoops up on Coach as Carlito hightails it out of the ring. Tadpole splash from Horny and the leprechaun wins. Seems you’ve escaped this time Carlito!

Sucks that they decided to have Bradshaw cut a heel promo after all that. The crowd was actually chanting J-B-L! When will we ever see that again? Follow all this up with a Snitsky promo. Ugh. Why? Why push this guy?

If Snitsky wins the Intercontinental title, we riot. The crowd is absolutely dead for this match. They seriously need to stop trying to make Snitsky happen. He is not the next Sycho Sid. Mercifully, this match is over and Jeff won, which kind of surprises me. Snitsky freaks and tries to smack Jeff with a chair but Triple H intervenes and saves his neck. They tease Triple H turning on Jeff but no dice - just a handshake.

It appears that Stephanie McMahon is on her way to the arena. Hmmm. What could this be about? Vince wants her brought straight to him when she arrives. Next week, Vince will announce the greatest superstar in RAW history. I almost figure that this will be a work, but in a way I kind of want them to name a legit winner. My vote is for HBK. Speaking of which, the main event is next - Michaels vs. Orton.

Not a bad match between Michaels and Orton. I won’t lie though, I’m kind of over this whole feud. I probably could have gone without having to watch this again. Michaels looks like he’s going to have the match won when Kennedy does the run-in. I think I’m starting to buy into that match-up. Michaels and Kennedy battle off into the crowd and Orton wins via count-out. Y2J does a run-in and the two engage in a very short roll around the mat.

Backstage, Vince and Stephanie have a seemingly pointless exchange where Steph begs Vince to not show up to RAW next week. Hopefully they won’t blow up his limo again. Overall, this was one of the best and most entertaining RAWs that I’ve seen in a while. Next week, it’s the big 15th anniversary show! Has the potential to be a classic. Until then … stay tuned!